Micah was deep in thought, his fingers idly tracing the rim of his glass, when a plate of tiramisu was suddenly shoved in front of his face.
"Here, have some. It's divine. It will mend your wounded pride in no time."
A muffled voice chimed.
Micah blinked and looked up, meeting the mischievous gaze of his cousin, Cora. Her lips curled into a knowing smile as she wiggled the plate slightly, urging him to take it.
Micah chuckled, shaking his head as he accepted the dessert.
"Thanks. But You are really bad…What wounded pride?"
"That not a sane soul wants their child to be involved with you?"
Cora said, munching on another sandwich.
"Hah! I still can't believe no one has figured out your true personality yet."
Micah scooped up a spoonful of the tiramisu and shoved it into his mouth.
"Of course not, only you."
Cora giggled behind her hand, her dark eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Seriously, though, I don't get it. Why go through all this effort?!"
Micah sighed.
Cora leaned in, lowering her voice.
"You know how vain and mean Vivian can be… as long as everyone thinks I am the obedient, quiet one who always gets bullied, I am free to do whatever I want."
"I doubt Aunt Mabel would actually disagree with your choice or hinder it,"
Micah said.
Cora clicked her tongue and said in a hushed voice.
"Nope. You don't know her like I do. She cares too much about people's opinions and appearances. If word got out that her daughter spends her time gaming and streaming instead of something respectable, she will flip!"
Micah frowned slightly, glancing toward their aunt, who was engaged in conversation with a few guests.
"But she doesn't treat me that strictly."
"Because you are a boy."
Cora grumbled.
"Ugh… sometimes I wish I was one too! That way, I could put Vivian's snobbish attitude in check."
"Well… I feel honoured that you trust me enough to tell me your secret."
Micah smirked.
"Like hell it was voluntary! If you hadn't barged into my room that day, I would have kept it from you forever."
Cora scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, hey, what did I do wrong?!"
Micah protested, spreading his hands dramatically.
"You blackmailed me into carrying you in the game to level up. Do you know how many of my fans ridicule me for that?!"
Cora jabbed a finger at him.
"I was just a newbie!" Micah coughed awkwardly.
"Yeah, what now? Have you improved?"
"Well…I haven't played much…"
Micah hesitated and fell into thought.
Truthfully, He had this idea of infiltrating the Esport Captian's team, but his gaming skills indeed were trash.
Ahh…
"Can you help me?"
Micah asked.
"Hopeless... Alright. I will send you some reaction training exercises. You need to improve your wrist, hand, and eye coordination first."
Cora said, popping another bite of cake into her mouth.
As she chewed, Mixah's gaze studied her. She was around 170 centimetres tall, she wasn't chubby but had broad shoulders, and her robust physique was more similar to Albert Ramsy's. She wasn't slender like her sister Vivian, but she wasn't ugly either.
"Thanks."
Micah said, full of appreciation.
"Umm, not planning on greeting the guests?"
Cora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nah. I have other plans. Just showing my face was enough. No one expects anything more from me."
Micah said, casually glancing around the hall.
Then with a slight tilt of his head, he excused himself and slipped away toward a more secluded area.
He did not want to appear differently to others. He was not naive enough to believe that no one from this gathering had betrayed the Ramsy family in the book.
Sometimes appearing incompetent was really in his favour.
He stood in the shadows and glanced around, noting people's gestures and body language. A forced smile here, a subtle glance there…
He exhaled quietly.
It was wishful thinking to believe he had been granted suddenly the ability to see through people.
At least he had given it a try.
His eyes eventually landed on one particular figure, Gu Donghai.
Before reading the book, Micah's impression of this man was more disdainful than anything else.
The heir of the Gu Family which was the owner of the city's largest machinery company, he was the textbook definition of perfection. Graduated from a prestige university, working as a vice director in his family's company, no scandal no hobby… practically a cold detached person like a machine…
Micah had always felt that he was unworthy and undeserving of his older sister, Willow.
It wasn't only Micah who thought Gu Donghai had no feelings for his fiance. It was an open secret in the wealthy circles that their engagement was nothing more than a strategic alliance. Power and money and nothing else.
Yet, in the book, when the Ramsy family took a hit and fell from grace, Gu Donghai didn't immediately break off his engagement. In fact, It was Willow who had terminated it resolutely.
Even afterwards, he did not marry another woman, secretly trying to support Willow behind the scenes.
However, his family had been against Gu Donghai's involvement with Willow. They had threatened his sister, forcing her to distance herself from her, insulting her as being a leech and holding onto their son.
Prideful as ever, Willow had exploded in anger, leading to an intense argument with Gu Donghai, accusing him of using her as a shield to remain unmarried.
Micah scoffed, remembering it.
Gu Donghai wanted to have his cake and eat it too!
His fear of rejection and losing the upper hand in the relationship made the man behave like a robot and not confess his love to Willow.
And it resulted in this misunderstanding that he had no feelings for Willow.
Micah studied the foolish man, standing stiffly with Willow, politely nodding at whatever was being said to him. Cold, emotionless, distant.
What a coward.
Now that he knew the truth, he could see it. The way Gu Donghai's gaze subtly lasted on Willow's face, the tension in his shoulders whenever Willow's body brushed his.
His approach was unbelievably terrible.
He had made his bed, and now he could lie in it!
If Willow had no feelings for him, then Micah would not lift a finger to help this pathetic man.
His gaze shifted toward Willow, who seemed as composed as always. If there was any lingering emotion there, she hid it well.
With a final glance at the banquet, Micah straightened and disappeared into the garden, ready to leave the venue.